43-year-old Woman Dies In The Amazon Just As She Predicted

A woman has died a tragic death inside the amazon just a few days after she posted about her fears of being murdered.

Emma Kelty, a 43-year-old former headteacher who was kayaking through the Amazon alone has died days after posting fears for her safety.

According to Metro UK, the woman was trying to paddle 4,000 miles from the Amazon’s source in Peru, through Brazil and to its mouth on the Atlantic Ocean.

She is believed to have been killed with a sawn-off shotgun and her body left in the river.

Ivo Martins, head of the Amazonas state homicide division said a teenager had been arrested and confessed to taking part in her killing.

A Foreign office spokesman said on Tuesday: ‘We are supporting the family of a British woman following her death in Brazil and are in contact with the Brazilian authorities.’

In a statement, her family said she ‘was dearly loved by us all and her strength will be sorely missed’.

On September 10 she had written on Facebook: ‘So in or near coari (100km away) i will have my boat stolen and i will be killed too. Nice.’

People posted underneath to reassure her, one saying: ‘Keep your head down and try to get past it in daylight stay safe.’

She hadn’t been heard from since September 13, with her last known location around 150 miles west of the jungle city of Manaus, between the towns of Coari and Codajas.

On September 13 she had posted on Facebook: ‘Finished the day yesterday meeting three lovely locals and 2 kittens that slept next to my tent for the night (well until that played chase around the tent.’

The same day she added: ‘Such a dramatic change in one day…. but such is the river …. every Km is different and just because 1 area is bad doesn’t mean next is.’

The stretch of river she was attempting to travel when she died is a known route for bandits and drug traffickers, local reports say.

Some of her belongings, including the kayak, were found by the Brazilian navy on Friday.

Olie Hunter Smart, an explorer who completed a similar route in 2015, said Coari was known to be a dangerous area.

He had met Ms Kelty before her trip to help her plan the journey.

Mr Smart, who is currently walking the length of India, said: ‘The Emma that I met was an incredibly brave and courageous person who lived life to the full.

‘My thoughts go out to her close friends and family at this very sad time.’

In a posting before the journey, Ms Kelty wrote that the adventure had four parts, and the third was ‘getting through the notorious drug baron and organ harvesting folks’.

The self-confessed adrenaline junkie had only begun serious kayaking earlier this year, weeks after skiing a return solo journey to the South Pole.

Last year police chief Thiago Garcez, whose body has never been found, was said to have been murdered by drug-runners in the area where Ms Kelty disappeared.